What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? -

In this blog post, we will cover what is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? Along with its usage, benefits of using RPA, industries where RPA is used, etc.

Wikipedia says:

Robotic process automation is a form of business process automation technology based on metaphorical software robots or artificial intelligence workers.

Now, what does this mean?

RPA is some sort of automation technology that can have a predefined process (set of rules) and robots (software programs, scripts). Being said that, let’s begin in a systematic way.

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What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a digital workforce of software robots that enables you to emulate and integrate the actions of human behavior within digital systems by developing your own software bots to conduct a business process.

RPA bots have the same set of digital skills as humans and can interact with any system or application in the same way you do. There is no need to change the underlying business applications or systems.

RPA bots can learn. They are also cloneable. It’s code-free, non-disruptive, non-invasive, easy and software robots never sleep and make zero mistakes.

Why RPA or benefits of RPA?

There are lots of benefits of using RPA, we have listed those below:

RPA bots are scalable and they integrate across domains and platforms
They reduce human errors and are compliant and consistent.
RPA can reduce operational costs by automating repetitive high-volume tasks.
RPA bots operate with consistent speed and improve productivity at regular intervals of time.
Only teach your bots how to do and what to do and they will work for you 24/7 without a break 😊.
It improves customer experience (NPS) by providing prompt and accurate resolution (it follows rules).
Optimize labor costs, and increase capacity.
Increase speed, accuracy (100%), and availability (24 hours x 365 days).
Improve compliance, controls, and audit-ability.
Deliver business intelligence.
Enable digital transformation.
Enhance employee morale.

Where is RPA used?

Below are the industries that use RPA for some of their processes.

Industries	Processes
Mortgage	Loan Process, Underwriting, etc.
Financial Services	Fraud Claims, Cards activation
Telecom	Order Management, Reporting
BPO	Invoice Processing & Customer experience
Insurance	Claims processing, Compensation
Healthcare	Reports, Reconciliation, Bills processing
Public Sector	Metro, New application process
Shipping	Order processing, Invoice processing

What RPA Platforms are available?

Choosing the right digital workforce is the first step toward success, so you need to be extra precautions and select the best one that meets your organizational goals.

Some of the key factors to be included in the criteria:

Rapid Deployment & Methodology
Intelligent & Extensible
Secure & Scalable
Compliance & Robust
Performance & Powerful

The top 5 RPA tools are:

Automation Anywhere
UiPath
Blue Prism
Work Fusion
Pega

To read in detail about the offerings and features of these tools, you may refer to this post – Top 5 RPA Tools.

How to get started with RPA?

RPA is a journey not just a project. Good preparation is always key to a successful journey.

RPA Journey requires a great Business & IT collaboration, must be in sync with the organization’s Strategic Positioning and must have a joint plan of action to win cultural acceptance.

Implementing RPA technology requires an enterprise basis commitment.

Readiness->POC->Pilot-> Transformation

Further reading – Get detailed understanding on How to get started with RPA?

Design, develop and deploy software bots with RPA. Build an intelligent digital workforce using RPA, cognitive automation, and analytics. Automate business processes using Automation Anywhere products. Offered By: Automation Anywhere

Summary – Robotic Process Automation

Robotic Process Automation allows organizations to automate tasks just like a human was doing them across applications & systems.
The main goal of the RPA process is to replace repetitive and mundane tasks performed by humans, with a virtual workforce.
The average productivity of humans is 60% with few errors as compared to Robot’s productivity which is 100% without any errors.
One should consider the business impact before opting for the RPA process
There are multiple overlaps between a Test Automation Tool and an RPA tool although they are different.
RPA implementation has four phases: Requirement, Development, Testing, and Deployment.
RPA is used in a wide range of industries like Healthcare, Insurance, BPO, Telecom, etc.